INDUSTRY NEWS

Genalice receives investment for DNA data processing solution

The Dutch software company Genalice has announced that it has reached an agreement on a multi-million euro capital investment from Redbrae, a consortium of US- and UK-based private equity investors.

The investment consortium has a strong network in the United States, United Kingdom and Middle East. It has been working with Genalice for the past year. The successful validation and launch of Genalice Map, the company’s DNA data processing solution, formed the basis for the latest financial injection that will provide significant backing to accelerate further product development and distribution.

‘With the successful validation of Genalice Map, we really have found a major game changer in the field of genomics. Big data analysis is a critical problem in this area, and we are delighted to back a company that has developed an innovative product resulting in greater accuracy, improved speed and lower costs. Our investment will contribute to accelerating this exciting phase of the Genalice story,’ said lead investor Zaheer Sardar.

The company claims that the product is up to 100 times faster than conventional tools on commodity hardware.

‘Our Map product is based on several technical innovations and is a leap forward for researchers demanding high-quality and cost-effective DNA data processing. With the advent of the $1,000 genome, Genalice provides a correspondingly low-cost data processing and storage solution, available immediately,’ said Hans Karten, Genalice’s CEO/CTO.

Karten continues: ‘We view this as a very positive outcome for users of Illumina X Ten sequencing machines, as Genalice provides a highly efficient IT solution to deal with massive data-file production. For example, Genalice’s XS model is capable of processing data at a speed that can exceed the maximum throughput of an ultra-high-throughput sequencer; the Illumina X Ten farm, which can process 18,000 full genomes per year.’

The company claims that Genalice Map is already being evaluated and installed by high-volume NGS centres, institutes and companies around the world. Karten states: ‘We have been greatly encouraged by real-world results which are proving to be the breakthrough that our models had forecast. It is no surprise that some of the early Illumina HiSeq X Ten customers are already users of Map. We welcome further enquiries from organisations engaged in genomic data analysis so they can see the results for themselves, in their own environment and under their own conditions. We would be prepared to discuss evaluation kits for qualified prospects, as we believe the solution will quickly prove its value.’